Category: Morbid Addiction (Page 7 of 11)

Morbid Addiction

Chapter 45

January 15, 2023 / hoenimochi / 2 Comments

When he arrived at the address Zhou Yan had agreed upon, Chen Yuncheng told Ning Junyan to wait for him in the car, “Don’t get out of the car for now.”

Ning Junyan nodded, but after Chen Yuncheng got out of the car, he left the headlights on, illuminating the area in front of him.

This was a place under a bridge near the river, and there was only a small road to drive the car over. Chen Yuncheng walked forward a few steps, saw that the surroundings were desolate, and there was not even a household nearby, so he shouted in a suppressed voice, “Zhou Yan?”

There was no response. He stood there and waited for more than a minute, then took out his mobile phone. He found the landline number that Zhou Yan had called just now, hesitated and eventually did not call back.

At this time, he heard faint footsteps coming from under the bridge.

“Zhou Yan?” Chen Yuncheng towards the bottom of the bridge, and by the light of the headlights, he saw Zhou Yan still wearing the same clothes as yesterday, with his hat and mask on, standing next to the bridge pier.

Zhou Yan kept staring in the direction of the car. He saw Chen Yuncheng approaching and asked, “Why didn’t you come alone?”

Chen Yuncheng said to him, “Ning Junyan won’t do anything, he just drives me here.”

Zhou Yan finally looked away, looked at Chen Yuncheng, and said softly, “Cheng ge, I’m sorry.”

Chen Yuncheng sighed slightly, “You wanted to see me so late just to say sorry to me?”

Zhou Yan said, “Not only to say sorry, but I also want to thank you.” After he said that, Zhou Yan knelt down in front of Chen Yuncheng.

Chen Yuncheng didn’t expect it, and immediately stretched out his hand to pull him, “Get up first!”

Zhou Yan shook his head. He took off his hat, lowered his head, and stretched out his hand to pull down the zipper of his jacket. He reached in and took out a stack of money from his inner pocket. He handed the money to Chen Yuncheng and said, “Here is 10,000 yuan¹. Take it ge and I’ll pay you back the rest of the money slowly.”

Chen Yuncheng didn’t take his money, but asked, “Where did you get the money?”

Zhou Yan didn’t speak.

Chen Yuncheng grabbed his arm and asked, “Where have you been all this time? Do you know that your stepfather was killed?”

Despite the dim light around him, Chen Yuncheng saw Zhou Yan’s expression change. Zhou Yan averted his gaze as if he had heard something terrible, and the hand held by Chen Yuncheng could not stop trembling slightly.

The thing that Chen Yuncheng feared most in his heart nevertheless appeared. He slowly squatted down in front of Zhou Yan, and said, “Please tell me clearly, what exactly happened?”

Zhou Yan said hoarsely, “Cheng ge, don’t ask, I can’t turn myself in now, I have no way out.”

At this moment, Chen Yuncheng almost wanted to beat him to death himself, “Are you killing people for money?”

“It’s not for money!” Zhou Yan finally couldn’t hold back his emotions and cried, “It’s not for money! I went back to borrow money from my mother, that old bastard, he has been beating me and abusing me since I was a child. He humiliated me, and I was so angry that I did it, but I didn’t think he would die either!”

Chen Yuncheng looked at him, and asked after a long time, “He abused you?”

Zhou Yan lowered his head and nodded twice, “I ran away from home when I was young because he would beat me, tie me up and deny me food. My mother knew it, but she didn’t dare say anything in front of him. This time I went back, just wanting to borrow some money, he called me a begging dog, said I was not qualified to have a son and deserved to die…” At this point, Zhou Yan has choked up so much that he could not say anymore.

Chen Yuncheng’s eyes were red, he could feel Zhou Yan’s anger, and even he became angry too, but, “You shouldn’t kill someone. If you kill him, you will pay for your whole life. Don’t you know that?”

Zhou Yan did not say anything and just knelt on the ground weakly. After a while, he stuffed the 10,000 yuan into Chen Yuncheng’s hand, “Take the money, and I’ll pay you back the rest slowly.”

Chen Yuncheng shook his head, “I don’t want the money you robbed, come with me and turn yourself in.”

“I can’t turn myself in!” Zhou Yan was agitated, “If I go in, what about Jiajia and the children? There’s really no one to take care of them when they are out there!”

Chen Yuncheng grabbed his shoulder, “Can you take care of them if you don’t turn yourself in? You can’t even get close to them!”

Zhou Yan said, “There will always be a way. I will find a way to make money and find an opportunity to send it to them. It is better than turning myself in!”

At this time, they heard the sound of a “bang” of the car door slamming shut at the same time.

Ning Junyan got out of the car. He was wearing short cowhide boots, and the soles of his shoes made a clattering sound on the gravel road.

When he saw Ning Junyan approaching, Zhou Yan tensed up all of a sudden. He stood up and stepped back, hiding in the shadow of the bridge pier, as if he would immediately flee into the darkness if Ning Junyan made any movement.

However, Ning Junyan stopped when he was close to the bridge. Behind him was the light from the headlights. From this angle, his face could not be seen clearly, and only his tall silhouette could be seen.

“Have you ever studied law?” He asked Zhou Yan.

Zhou Yan’s attitude towards Ning Junyan had never been friendly, “What do you want to say?”

Ning Junyan said, “What do you think you will be sentenced to if you turn yourself in?”

Chen Yuncheng stood up slowly, looked at Zhou Yan and said nothing.

Zhou Yan pressed one hand on the damp bridge pier at night, “What do you mean?”

Ning Junyan said, “You can go to the court and tell the judge what you said just now. In addition to surrendering yourself, I guess you will be sentenced to death with reprieve or life imprisonment. As long as you don’t die, you can try to reduce your sentence. It may take more than ten years to be released after serving your sentence. In the future, your son will only be in his teens at that time, and he will be about the same age as you when he came out to work.”

Zhou Yan stared at his figure fiercely.

Ning Junyan continued, “Do you want your son to be like you, without a father in his teens, going out to work and being bullied and called a beggar’s dog by people pointing at his nose, or do you want to come back to him squarely in his adolescence and give each other a chance to take care of each other?”

Zhou Yan’s breathing sounded heavy, but it was muffled by the sound of flowing water and could not be heard as he said, “My business has nothing to do with you!”

Ning Junyan said indifferently, “Of course it doesn’t matter, you can leave now, but don’t throw your wife and children to Yuncheng, these have nothing to do with him. Be a man and take your own responsibility.”

Chen Yuncheng took a deep breath, and said in a deep voice, “Zhou Yan, come with me and turn yourself in.”

Zhou Yan didn’t speak.

Ning Junyan walked to Chen Yuncheng’s side and took Chen Yuncheng’s hand, “Don’t worry about him, you’ve done enough.”

Chen Yuncheng was dragged by Ning Junyan to the direction of the parking lot. He was reluctant, and finally looked at Zhou Yan and said to him, “Jiajia and the children both need you. If you leave today, it will be a lifetime. The road is in front of you. Think about it yourself.”

After he finished saying that, Chen Yuncheng turned his head and no longer looked at him.

Ning Junyan and Chen Yuncheng walked to the side of the car, because Zhou Yan was hiding behind the shadow of the bridge pier, and he could no longer be seen from where they were.

They opened the door and got in the car.

Ning Junyan started the car but did not rush to leave, he asked Chen Yuncheng: “Are you still waiting for him?”

Chen Yuncheng said, “Wait five minutes, okay?”

Ning Junyan responded, “You can wait as long as you want.”

They looked ahead and did not speak again. After waiting for two minutes, Zhou Yan slowly walked out from under the bridge, he walked all the way to the front of the car, reached out and took off his mask, He looked up at them, and said, “I’m going to turn myself in.”

Chen Yuncheng nodded and said to him, “Get in the car.”

It was half past one in the morning when we arrived at the police station.

Chen Yuncheng called Long Zhanyu, and Long Zhanyu’s tone sounds very bad, “What’s up so late?”

“I am accompanying Zhou Yan to turn himself in.” His voice was also slightly hoarse as if it was because of the cool breeze at night.

Long Zhanyu was silent for a while, and his whole body sobered up, “What did you say?”

Chen Yuncheng repeated, “I am accompanying Zhou Yan to turn himself in.”

Long Zhanyu asked him: “Do you know what Zhou Yan did besides stealing cars?”

Chen Yuncheng said, “I know, murder.”

His tone was so calm that Long Zhan Yu cursed after hearing him and said to him, “Come on, I’m on duty tonight.”

The police station was still lit and open late at night, and when Ning Junyan parked his car in the car park in front of the police station, Long Zhanyu was already waiting for them at the door with a cigarette in his mouth.

Before Chen Yuncheng got off the car, he turned his head to look at Zhou Yan.

Zhou Yan originally lowered his head slightly, but at this moment, as if he had made up his mind suddenly, he opened the car door and jumped down.

Chen Yuncheng and Ning Junyan followed him out of the car.

Wearing a crumpled-down jacket, Long Zhanyu strode down from the steps at the door, all the way to Zhou Yan, took off the handcuffs hanging on his trousers and handcuffed his hands.

Two police officers on duty in uniform ran out, and brought Zhou Yan in, one on the left and one on the right.

When Zhou Yan followed them inside, he was still looking back at Chen Yuncheng.

Chen Yuncheng knew that he would rarely have the chance to talk to him in the future, so he shouted loudly at this moment, “I will help you take care of them.”

Zhou Yan bit his lip to prevent himself from crying and nodded.

Chen Yuncheng said to Long Zhanyu again, “Can you be a bit nicer to him?”

Long Zhanyu said, “If he cooperates, I will treat him well. However, the case will probably have to be transferred to the jurisdiction of the county public security bureau over there, after all, it’s a murder case over there.”

Chen Yuncheng stared at Zhou Yan’s back which had disappeared behind the glass door and nodded.

Long Zhanyu put his hands into the pockets of his jacket. His eyes fell on Ning Junyan, and he sized him up, obviously, he still remembered him.

Chen Yuncheng asked, “Is there anything else we need to do?”

Long Zhanyu said, “Although it’s a bit late, you should cooperate with us and take a statement, your testimony will be helpful to Zhou Yan later.”

Chen Yuncheng nodded.

They took their statements separately. Chen Yuncheng was close to Zhou Yan, so the statement had to be more detailed. When they came out of the room inside, they saw Ning Junyan wearing a coat and sitting on a chair at the entrance of the police station, with his head against the wall and already asleep.

He walked over, woke Ning Junyan gently, and said, “We’re going back.”

As Ning Junyan drove away from the police station, Chen Yuncheng sat in the passenger seat and said to him, “Thank you.”

“Thank you?” Ning Junyan’s tone was slightly tired.

Chen Yuncheng said, “If you hadn’t said those words, I might not have been able to persuade Zhou Yan.”

Ning Junyan said “En”, and said in a calm tone, “You are soft-hearted, and he knows you are soft-hearted.”

Chen Yuncheng didn’t speak until he got back to the neighbourhood and took the elevator upstairs.

Ning Junyan asked him, “What are you thinking?”

Chen Yuncheng looked at him, “I was thinking about how to thank you.” In fact, Chen Yuncheng was thinking far more than this sentence can sum up. Ning Junyan’s feelings are too heavy, and the word thank you is too light. He doesn’t know what to do to be worthy of the other party’s feelings.

Ning Junyan said calmly, “Or else you can kiss me.”

Chen Yuncheng laughed when he heard this.

When the elevator reached the floor, and the door opened, Ning Junyan walked outside and said regretfully, “It’s fine if you don’t want to support me, but can’t you just give me a kiss?”

When he thought about it later, Chen Yuncheng felt that he must have been too tired and his brain lost the ability to think. At that time, he grabbed Ning Junyan’s arm to make him turn around, raised his head and kissed him very lightly on the cheek.

Ning Junyan looked at him and said, “That’s not it.”

Chen Yuncheng looked at him blankly.

Ning Junyan wrapped one arm around his waist, pressed the back of his neck with the other, and lowered his head to kiss his lips.

________________________________________

Ning Junyan: Excuse me for the first kiss

Notes:
Finally, after 45 chapters Yanyan makes his movee~ He’s going to be bolder and bolder as the chapter goes on! ٩(^ᴗ^)۶

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Chapter 44

January 8, 2023 / hoenimochi / 0 Comments

Back at Ning Junyan’s house alone, Chen Yuncheng sat on the bed and saw Long Zhanyu reply to him, “Will try my best to make them speak.”

He typed a few words, hesitatingly deleted and corrected them several times, but in the end, he still didn’t send them out and lay down on his back on the bed.

The next morning, Chen Yuncheng left before Ning Junyan returned from his night shift. He still went back to the kiosk to tidy up and went to the dry cleaners across the street to pick up Ning Junyan’s washed down-jacket and the scarf he later sent to the cleaners. Later, someone called him and wanted to see the kiosk. He waited for nearly an hour until the person who visited the kiosk came and he gave him a brief introduction of the surrounding environment.

When the man left, Chen Yuncheng felt that the man was not quite satisfied.

It was surrounded by old houses, with average foot traffic, but the environment of the kiosk was not good, they were cramped and crowded. There was a newly built commercial area less than a kilometre away, and the environment in that section was much better than in this section.

Before Chen Yuncheng left, he handed over the key to the next-door lottery shop owner. If someone came to visit the kiosk in a couple of days, he would ask him to open the door if anyone came to see the kiosk, and he began to think seriously about finding a new job.

In the past, when Chen Yuncheng still had some savings, he also thought about selling his kiosk and using the money to partner with others to start other businesses, but now that he had no savings in his hands. Even if he sublease the kiosk, the rent would have to be paid to Ning Junyan to pay off his debts, so he had to find a job that he could do.

He looked for job advertisements on his mobile phone, choosing the ones that did not require academic qualifications, were a bit more tiring but paid more and could be done by himself.

For lunch, he bought two egg pancakes and squatted on the roadside to solve the problem.

Chen Yuncheng did not regret that he did not study properly before. In fact, his basis was too weak that he could not keep up with others and he did not have the financial conditions to support him, so working was an inevitable choice.

However, he used to think that he would be able to stabilise himself when he was about thirty years old and that he might not become a big boss, but he could at least start a small business and have a family, but he never thought that he would have to start from scratch now.

After two interviews in the afternoon, Chen Yuncheng felt that none of them was too reliable, and made an appointment with three companies to continue the interview tomorrow.

Later, when he received a call from Ning Junyan, asking him if he would go back for dinner, Chen Yuncheng responded, “Okay, I’ll be right back.”

When he got home, Ning Junyan was cooking dinner.

Chen Yuncheng washed his hands avoiding the wound and came back to the kitchen to help him.

Dinner consisted of two stir-fried vegetables and a bowl of soup. Chen Yuncheng and Ning Junyan sat down face to face and ate their food for a while. Chen Yuncheng raised his head and said to Ning Junyan, “I’m interviewing for a job.”

Ning Junyan asked him, “Is there anything suitable?”

Chen Yuncheng shook his head and said, “But I’m going to interview with a logistics company tomorrow, they run inter-city long-distance logistics transport.”

Ning Junyan looked at him and said nothing.

Chen Yuncheng said, “I have a B license, I can drive a large truck, so maybe I can give it a try.”

Ning Junyan asked him, “How long will it take to go out?”

“I don’t know yet,” Chen Yuncheng smiled, “I haven’t interviewed yet, and I don’t know if the company wants me.”

After dinner, Ning Junyan went to the kitchen to wash the dishes. Chen Yuncheng felt that he was not too happy, so he followed in, leaned against the cabinet, and said to him, “I have to find a job, what else can I do?”

Ning Junyan asked him, “Do you want to go to school?”

Chen Yuncheng laughed when he heard the words, “From junior high school?”

Ning Junyan said, “There are training classes.”

The smile on Chen Yuncheng’s face did not fade away, “And then what? Take the college entrance examination or go abroad?”

Ning Junyan said, “Don’t go abroad.”

Chen Yuncheng looked at him, “If I study in a training course, my degree won’t be recognized by others, so what will I do then? Besides, I’m almost thirty and I still need you to pay for my education? When will I be able to earn enough money to pay you back?”

Ning Junyan wiped his hands and walked to Chen Yuncheng.

Chen Yuncheng subconsciously wanted to retreat, but there was nowhere to retreat. Ning Jun stretched his hand to brush his hair and said, “It can be cut.”

“Well,” Chen Yuncheng lowered his head slightly, “I’ll cut it tomorrow.”

Ning Junyan said to him, “I don’t want to interfere with your freedom, I hope you can do what you want to do.”

Chen Yuncheng raised his gaze and landed on his face.

Ning Junyan said, “But I can’t let you leave me. This makes me feel that there are two contradictory me tearing each other apart.”

“Junyan,” Chen Yuncheng couldn’t help but grabbed his wrist.

Ning Junyan said to him very gently, “Don’t be afraid, I won’t hurt you, so there will only be one of me killing the other me first, guess which one will win?”

Chen Yuncheng felt that he was too nervous to say these words and tried to stop him from saying anything further, “Don’t say that.”

Ning Junyan said, “It must be the one who wants to protect you more.” After he said that, Ning Junyan turned and left the kitchen.

Because of Ning Junyan’s words, Chen Yuncheng was restless all night. In fact, he had always had a lot on his mind these days and hadn’t calmed down for a long time.

It was past eleven o’clock at night, and Chen Yuncheng was about to go to bed when he received an unfamiliar call on his mobile phone.

He stared at the phone number for a while, sat up from the bed and picked up the call.

Zhou Yan’s voice came from over there, “Cheng ge, can you come out and meet us? Can you come here alone?”

Chen Yuncheng immediately felt a sense of relief, he knew that Zhou Yan would not just leave without a care, he asked into the phone, “Where are you?”

About ten minutes later, Ning Junyan drove Chen Yuncheng out together.

Chen Yuncheng sat in the passenger side and said, “I’m sorry, I have to trouble you at such a late hour.”

Ning Junyan did not respond to his words.

The address Zhou Yan gave Chen Yuncheng was in a remote suburb. Chen Yuncheng originally wanted to borrow a car from Ning Junyan, but Ning Junyan insisted on going with him.

There were very few cars on the road, and the car drove smoothly. Ning Junyan only stopped occasionally to wait for the traffic lights.

When he parked the car, Ning Junyan asked Chen Yuncheng, “Do you think Zhou Yan will listen to your persuasion and turn himself in?”

Chen Yuncheng said, “Since he is willing to see me.”

Ning Junyan asked again, “What if he had killed someone?”

Chen Yuncheng did not answer this question for a long time.

After a while, Chen Yuncheng said to Ning Junyan, “Do you think I’m a loser?”

Ning Junyan said, “How so?”

“Self-righteous,” Chen Yuncheng said slowly, “I want to help Zhou Yan, but in fact, I can’t do much. I have no money, no ability, no connections;” when he was speaking, he leaned on the back of his chair and looked out of the car window with a somewhat despondent, “Just like Guan Anlin back then, I don’t know whether I’ve helped him or harmed him.”

Ning Junyan didn’t speak.

Chen Yuncheng continued,”You know that after I left school and came out to work, I met a lot of people, some of whom were lazy and just lazing around, playing online games every day, they had no plans or ideas for the future, and some of whom liked to brag at the wine table that they could do anything, boasting that they are omnipotent, and now they are on the low for a while, but they will always be able to make great achievements in the future, but I have never seen them really fly.”

Ning Junyan just glanced at him.

Chen Yuncheng said, “At first I felt like a bystander, but later I realized that I was just one of them. It’s not as if you’re sober enough to see what you’re getting into and you can get away with it, you still have to watch your friends either fall down or go down the evil path for money.”

Having said that, he was quiet for a moment, “People like us may have been doomed for the rest of our lives from the day we left school.”

“What kind of people are you?” Ning Junyan finally opened his mouth and asked calmly.

Chen Yuncheng looked at him.

Ning Junyan said, “You are not the same kind of person as anyone. Without you, I might have been buried alive by the old man when I was ten years old, and Zhou Yan’s son couldn’t have the operation and would have had to wait for death in a hospital bed.”

Chen Yuncheng couldn’t help but said, “That’s not because of me…”

“Who is that because of?” Ning Junyan asked him, “Because of me? I did it for you anyway.”

Their car stopped as they waited for the red light at the intersection. At the same time, an electric car was parked in the non-motorized¹ lane next to them. A middle-aged man wearing a food delivery uniform was also waiting for the red light. While that man was waiting, he took off his helmet and wiped his forehead with his sleeve, the action looked like he was wiping sweat, but it was so cold, he shouldn’t be sweating.

Ning Junyan and Chen Yuncheng looked at him silently until the green light came on, and the middle-aged man hurried across the intersection on his electric scooter.

“You asked me today what you could do in the future,” Ning Junyan stepped on the accelerator and said as the car drove out, “I have no way to answer you because there’s something I am unable to say.”

Chen Yuncheng rested his head on the car window and said softly, “Say it, I’m willing to listen to you.”

Ning Junyan said, “I want to say that you can do whatever makes you happy, and I can support you. But you don’t need to hear this sentence because you have your dignity, and you will be unhappy if I say it.”

Chen Yuncheng couldn’t help laughing, “You think I will be unhappy?”

Ning Junyan did not answer.

Chen Yuncheng turned to look at him, and asked, “So if I told you to stop doing your job, and I will deliver food to support you, will you agree?”

Ning Junyan replied without thinking, “I agree, are you serious?”

At that moment, Chen Yuncheng had the urge to cry and laugh at the same time. He wanted to ask Ning Junyan why he was so obsessed with him, but he didn’t ask and only let out a laugh and said, “I’m just kidding.”

________________________________________

Ning Junyan: Disappointing… I thought I could fvck after we went back

Notes:
Ning Junyan thought that since Chen Yuncheng wanna support him (be his ahem sugar daddy), they could have some little fun
Also, this third update is thanks to VitaB for sending me unexpected kofi to start the year UwU

We have a discord server for those who want to receive an update ping and various announcements~
Join here ^^

Check out bean’s new novel here!
and her original novel about a sly cute dragon here~
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Check out the angst novel I co-tl with my friend here~

And please buy me some kofi if you like the translation~

Also leave some ratings if you like this series here~

Chapter 43

January 8, 2023 / hoenimochi / 0 Comments

Ning Junyan’s supper was very simple. He ordered takeout, and the plastic bags were still unopened. They were placed in his small quiet office.

Chen Yuncheng returned to the office with him and sat on the chair opposite his desk, watching him unpack the bag and open the disposable lunch box. Inside was fried rice with a few kimchis added on top.

“Is that all you’re eating?” Chen Yuncheng asked him.

Ning Junyan let out an “En”, picked up the plastic spoon, and looked up at Chen Yuncheng, “Have you eaten yet?”

Chen Yuncheng said, “I have eaten, go ahead.”

Ning Junyan ate quickly and quietly.

Chen Yuncheng propped his chin with one hand, leaned on the edge of the desk and looked at him. After a while, he said, “I saw Zhou Yan today.”

Ning Junyan paused.

Chen Yuncheng said again, “You go ahead and eat, I just want to chat casually.”

Ning Junyan continued to eat.

Chen Yuncheng said, “I heard from Jiajia that the police came to look for them twice today, and there seemed to be a police presence in the corridor. I’m very afraid that Zhou Yan has gotten into some trouble.”

Ning Junyan suddenly said, “You didn’t call the police when you saw him?”

Chen Yuncheng brushed back the hair on his forehead with his gauze-wrapped hand, “I want to take him to surrender.”

Ning Junyan’s tone was almost emotionless, “Don’t you actually know in your heart what he’s done?”

Chen Yuncheng looked over at him, “What are you trying to say?”

However, Ning Junyan didn’t continue immediately. He took a spoonful of fried rice and put it into his mouth, chewed it slowly and swallowed it, then took a sip of water from the mineral water bottle before saying, “Did his stepfather’s death really have nothing to do with him?”

Chen Yuncheng’s intense unease, apart from seeing the police in the hospital, stemmed from Zhou Yan’s stepfather’s unexplained murder case, but he was unwilling to face it or admit it and subconsciously said, “He’s not that type of person.”

Ning Junyan said, “Why can’t he be such a person?” After he finished speaking, he said nothing more and continued to eat his bowl of fried rice.

Chen Yuncheng looked at Ning Junyan and didn’t speak for a long time. He recalled that when he was young, Ning Junyan had never liked Zhou Yan.

When Zhou Yan was first brought back by the foster father, there was no spare room, so Chen Yuncheng arranged a spring bed in his room that the foster father picked up from the scrap yard and let him sleep on it.

On the first night, Zhou Yan seemed a little excited and wanted to talk to Chen Yuncheng all the time.

Chen Yuncheng lay down and chatted with Zhou Yan. Ning Junyan, who was sleeping next to him, did not make a sound from beginning to end. Later, when Chen Yuncheng turned to look at Ning Junyan, he found that Ning Junyan’s eyes were open. He was looking in Zhou Yan’s direction and his eyes were cold and quenched with a bit of sinisterness.

Ning Junyan as an adult would no longer have such eyes, but at that time, it was a sign of Ning Junyan’s extreme dislike for a person.

Chen Yuncheng did not like this kind of look in Ning Junyan’s eyes and raised his hand to cover his eyes.

Ning Junyan lay still, and he didn’t move even when Chen Yuncheng blocked his view. After a long time, he blinked his eyes and his eyelashes swept across Chen Yuncheng’s hand.

Zhou Yan was still talking.

However, Chen Yuncheng didn’t listen much as he was teasing Ning Junyan. He slowly moved away the hand covering Ning Junyan’s eyes, revealing only one of his eyes, and then locked eyes with him.

When Ning Junyan’s line of sight was completely occupied by Chen Yuncheng, his eyes suddenly became clean and pure, and the curvature of the corners of his eyes was soft.

After looking at him for a while, Chen Yuncheng dropped his hand, allowing both of Ning Junyan’s eyes to be exposed, and then looked at him with a smile. Ning Junyan looked at him for a long time and reached over to grab Chen Yuncheng’s hand, covering his eyes again, unwilling to continue looking at him.

Now that Chen Yuncheng thought about it, he was the only person Ning Junyan cared about.

After Ning Junyan finished eating the bowl of fried rice, he put the spoon in the lunch box, covered it with the lid, and then tied the outside plastic bag tightly again.

Chen Yuncheng asked him, “Don’t you feel anything for Zhou Yan at all?”

Ning Junyan said, “No.”

Because of his answer, Chen Yuncheng suddenly felt uncomfortable. He couldn’t tell whether it was because of Zhou Yan or Ning Junyan, but at the same time, he also felt that he was a little pretentious. He reached out and picked up his empty lunch box from Ning Junyan’s desk, went to the door and threw it into the trash can. When he turned around, he said to Ning Junyan, “You are too cold.” He wanted to say “too cold-blooded”, but he couldn’t bear to say such heavy words to Ning Junyan.

Ning Junyan sat behind his desk, looked up at Chen Yuncheng, and said, “Maybe, do you want to warm me up?”

Chen Yuncheng was stunned for a moment. He suspected that he had misunderstood what Ning Junyan’s meant and asked, “What?”

Ning Junyan was very calm, “You can warm me up.”

Chen Yuncheng realised he had understood correctly; although Ning Junyan had a decent demeanour, what he said was simply immodest. At that moment, Chen Yuncheng felt ashamed and annoyed; he stretched out his hand to open the office door and walked out, “I’m leaving first.”

Ning Junyan got up and chased after him, grabbed his hand in the corridor and stopped him.

Chen Yuncheng said, “What else do you want to say?”

Ning Junyan asked him, “Why are you angry?”

Chen Yuncheng’s anger still persisted, “I’m talking to you in earnest.”

Ning Junyan nodded, “If you want to tell me about Zhou Yan, then go ahead, and I will listen to you.”

Chen Yuncheng was pulled back into his office by him.

The door to the office closed once more.

This time Ning Junyan kept pulling Chen Yuncheng to his chair, and he didn’t let go of Chen Yuncheng’s hand even after he sat down.

Chen Yuncheng asked him, “What are you doing?”

Ning Junyan replied, “Looking at the wound on your hand.”

Chen Yuncheng did not say anything.

Ning Junyan looked up at him and asked softly, “May I?”

Chen Yuncheng had always been amenable to coaxing but not coercion. He couldn’t refuse Ning Junyan with such an attitude, so he could only say, “Go ahead.”

Ning Junyan lowered his head and carefully unwrapped the gauze on his hand. The shallow scratches on his palm looked like they were almost healed, and the slightly serious one was the shard that got in his right hand at that time. Although the wound was a little deep, it was a short one and now it had formed a thin scab of blood.

“The left hand can be left unbandaged,” Ning Junyan said, and then he reached out to open the drawer on the side of the desk.

When the drawer was opened, it hit Chen Yuncheng’s leg. Chen Yuncheng turned sideways and wanted to take half a step back.

But Ning Junyan suddenly grabbed his wrist and pulled Chen Yuncheng in front of him, wrapped an arm around his waist and made him sit on his lap with his back to him.

Chen Yuncheng was startled and wanted to get up quickly.

Ning Junyan was very strong. His arm tightened around his waist, and he put his face against his back and said, “I have no ill will towards Zhou Yan.”

Chen Yuncheng said anxiously, “Let me get up first!”

Ning Junyan’s tall nose lightly rubbed against the protruding spine of Chen Yuncheng’s back and said, “Otherwise, I wouldn’t agree to you lending money for his son for medical treatment.”

When he heard Ning Junyan suddenly mention money, Chen Yuncheng slowed down his struggle and said, “I will definitely pay you back the money.”

However, Ning Junyan did not continue the topic of money but said, “I don’t like Zhou Yan, but I’m just afraid that if you put so much effort into him, you will end up being disappointed.”

Chen Yuncheng could feel that Ning Junyan was still pressed against his back when he spoke. Even though he was still separated by his thick winter clothes, Chen Yuncheng still felt his entire back tingling slightly from the breath of his words.

At this point, Ning Junyan reached out and pulled the drawer completely open, just in front of Chen Yuncheng’s knees, and he said to Chen Yuncheng, “Don’t move. Wait for me to take care of your wound.”

Chen Yuncheng insisted, “Let me get up.”

Ning Junyan spoke in a gentle tone, “It will be done soon. Bear with me.”

He took out the iodine spray and dressing from the drawer and sat Chen Yuncheng sideways on his lap. He first held Chen Yuncheng’s left hand, disinfected it with the spray, and then wiped it clean with cotton. After that, he tore off the small dressing and only stuck it to the deepest wound on his hand.

When he was doing this, Chen Yuncheng didn’t struggle to get up, he could only move his body forward as much as possible, almost sitting on Ning Junyan’s knee. Both being grown men, Chen Yuncheng felt that the current situation was already awkward, and he did not want to encounter a situation that would make him even more awkward.

Ning Junyan said, “Try not to touch the water as much as possible. There are disposable gloves in the drawer at home.”

Chen Yuncheng subconsciously said, “Why didn’t you say it earlier?”

Ning Junyan didn’t speak but just smiled.

At this time, the door of the office room was suddenly knocked twice sharply from outside.

Chen Yuncheng immediately stood up from Ning Junyan’s lap.

But the people outside were obviously more impatient. Before Ning Junyan could reply, he unscrewed the door, poked his head in and said, “Xiao Ning?”

“Director Yu?” Ning Junyan sat in his chair and looked over towards the person by the door.

It was the director of their department, surnamed Yu, who was nearly sixty years old. He stood at the door with a stiff movement. He obviously saw Chen Yuncheng get up from Ning Junyan’s lap. He didn’t react for a while, and his gaze fell straight on Chen Yuncheng.

Chen Yuncheng felt that he had never been so embarrassed in his twenty-eight years of life.

Ning Junyan’s attitude was quite calm, and he asked, “Is there something wrong?”

Director Yu came back to his senses and said in an unnatural tone, “Oh, that what, are you on duty today?”

Ning Junyan got up and walked in front of Chen Yuncheng to block Director Yu’s sight, “Yes.”

Director Yu scratched his thinning hair, “Then what, did you see my watch in the duty room?”

Ning Junyan heard the words and walked towards him, “I’ll accompany you to find it.”

When they left the office, Ning Jun extended his hand and closed the door.

Chen Yuncheng sat down on Ning Junyan’s chair, leaned on the table, raised his arms and hugged his head.

The author has something to say:

There are not many scenes for Zhou Yan. Zhou Yan’s problem has not been resolved because Chen Yuncheng was flirting with Ning Junyan most of the time in the story.

Regarding the content of the hospital, because I am not professional, there must be bugs¹. If it is not very serious, just take it with a grain of salt ha

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Chapter 42

January 8, 2023 / hoenimochi / 1 Comment

Chen Yuncheng looked at the elevator that was going up.

At this time, he had no idea on which floor Zhou Yan would leave the lift, and there was a high chance that he would miss Zhou Yan whether he went upstairs or downstairs in pursuit.

The only thing he could be sure of was that Zhou Yan had already arrived at the hospital and would definitely see his child tonight.

Chen Yuncheng turned around and walked towards the stairwell.

He was very restless. The police came to look for Gu Yaojia twice today, and the man in the corridor was most likely targeting Zhou Yan. Just like Gu Yaojia’s keen intuition, if it was only for that car theft case, so many police officers should not have been suddenly dispatched to ambush Zhou Yan. What else had happened?

Chen Yuncheng recalled the flashy feeling of being watched when he closed the shop today. At first, he thought it was someone Long Zhanyu had found to keep an eye on him outside to prevent Zhang Wenyong from making trouble again, but now that he thought about it, it must not be that simple; maybe the person watching him was also here for Zhou Yan.

If Zhou Yan was in Chongfeng, apart from his wife and son, the only person he would contact was Chen Yuncheng.

Chen Yuncheng leaned against the wall, took out his phone and turned off the sound, and then sent a message to Long Zhanyu: “Officer Long, have you been busy lately?” He didn’t mention Zhou Yan directly and wanted to get some words from Long Zhanyu.

After sending the message, Chen Yuncheng stuffed his phone back into his pocket. He calmed himself down and waited. After a while, he heard light footsteps coming down the stairs.

Chen Yuncheng changed the direction so that the person going downstairs couldn’t easily see him. When the person reached the nearest flight of stairs and looked over, Chen Yuncheng called his name, “Zhou Yan.”

Zhou Yan turned around and ran upstairs.

Chen Yuncheng chased after him, lowered his voice and shouted, “Why the hell are you running!”

Zhou Yan only focused on going upstairs and didn’t say anything at all.

Chen Yuncheng’s sprained foot was almost healed, but now that he had to suddenly exerted force, the pain began to linger again after two flights of stairs. He didn’t slow down but said, “Where can you run to? Stop right there!”

If he continued running further up, he could only face the locked entrance to the top floor. Zhou Yan had no way to avoid Chen Yuncheng unless he ran through the ward to the other side of the stairs, but going through the ward would certainly cause a commotion, and he was unwilling to take the risk. After Chen Yuncheng chased him up the four floors, Zhou Yan stopped. He leaned against the wall and turned around, saying, “Cheng ge.” as he gasped for breath.

Chen Yuncheng was also slightly out of breath, stopped to look at him, “Done running?”

Zhou Yan glanced up and down, the whole stairwell was quiet, and there were only the two of them. He sounded a bit anxious and said, “Stop chasing me, I just want to see Jiajia and the child.”

Chen Yuncheng said, “Do you know that the child had undergone surgery?”

Zhou Yan froze for a moment, “What did you just say? Where did you get the money for the surgery?”

Chen Yuncheng leaned on the handrail of the stairs, “I borrowed it from someone, and I will find a way to pay it back, just think of it as something you owe me and pay me back slowly.”

Zhou Yan took a step down and got closer to Chen Yuncheng. He asked in disbelief, “Did the operation go well? When can the child be discharged from the hospital?”

Chen Yuncheng said, “It went quite well. The doctor said the child still needs to be observed for a while.”

Zhou Yan pressed his body against the wall, pulled down the mask slightly, and panted as if greatly relieved.

Chen Yuncheng said to him, “Follow me and surrender.”

Zhou Yan looked at him and said nothing.

Chen Yuncheng said, “In your current situation, if you take the initiative to surrender and confess, and go to court to ask the judge for a favor, you might be able to get a suspended sentence.”

Zhou Yan put the mask back on, and he walked towards Chen Yuncheng, until he stood in front of Chen Yuncheng, and asked, “Is it possible?”

Chen Yuncheng said to him, “Of course it’s possible. Problems can always be solved. Only running away from them solves nothing.”

Zhou Yan lowered his head and said softly, “Cheng ge, I’m sorry.”

Chen Yuncheng said, “Don’t aplogize to me, apologize to Jiajia and the child.” After he said that, he saw that Zhou Yan was still standing there and stretched out his hand to grab his arm, “Follow me.”

However, what Chen Yuncheng didn’t expect was that Zhou Yan dodged. Instead of letting Chen Yuncheng grab his arm, he pushed Chen Yuncheng hard. Chen Yuncheng was standing on the stairs but he was pushed back half a step and tripped and fell on the stairs.

Zhou Yan ran downstairs and said, “I’m sorry, I’m really sorry!”

Chen Yuncheng stood up, and did not continue to chase Zhou Yan, he just leaned over the staircase railing and shouted in a low voice towards Zhou Yan who had already gone down a flight of stairs, “Someone is keeping watch of you outside the ward!”

Zhou Yan’s footsteps obviously paused for a moment and then continued to run downstairs.

Chen Yuncheng heard his footsteps getting farther and farther away and sat down on the stairs, somewhat exhausted. He had selfish intentions and hoped that Zhou Yan could be brought to surrender so that there would be a greater possibility of probation. But he didn’t understand why Zhou Yan ran away after hearing what he said. Where could he go? Was he going to hide out for the rest of his life?

He sat quietly for two minutes, took out the phone in his pocket, and saw a missed call two seconds ago, it was from Ning Junyan, and he almost hung up just now. There was also an unread message from Long Zhan Yu replying to his WeChat.

Chen Yuncheng called Ning Junyan back.

The phone was connected quickly, and Ning Junyan’s voice rang out in the quiet environment, “Are you okay?”

Chen Yuncheng said: “I’m fine. I’m here to visit Zhou Yan’s child.”

Ning Junyan didn’t ask what he was doing just now but just asked, “Am I disturbing you?”

“Not disturbing,” Chen Yuncheng said hastily, There was a temporary matter just now, but it has been taken care of now.”

Ning Junyan asked, “Have you left?”

Chen Yuncheng said: “Not yet. I’m still in the hospital.”

“Okay,” Ning Junyan hung up the phone.

Chen Yuncheng clicked on Long Zhanyu’s WeChat again, and saw that he replied with a voice note. Long Zhanyu’s voice was lazy, “Just working on that case of yours, those three suspects have a clue.”

“Can you find out the relationship between them and Zhang Wenyong?” Chen Yuncheng typed, then put the phone back in his pocket, got up and walked down the stairs.

He knew that Zhou Yan would definitely not go to the ward to see the child tonight, but he didn’t know if more ambushes were waiting for Zhou Yan in the hospital. If the police wanted to arrest him, the hospital must have focused on surveillance, so perhaps his whereabouts had already been revealed.

No matter what, Chen Yuncheng wanted to go back and talk to Gu Yaojia again.

As he passed through the corridor, the man sitting by the hospital bed looked up at him again, but Chen Yuncheng didn’t meet his gaze and went directly into the ward.

It was already late, and it was quite quiet beside the other beds, no one was talking.

Gu Yaojia was a little surprised to see him come back.

Chen Yuncheng pulled up the curtain around the hospital bed, leaving only a slit to see the direction of the ward’s door. In a relatively closed environment, he whispered to Gu Yaojia, “Zhou Yan will find a way to find you these two days,. Tell him to surrender or ask him to come to me, understand?”

Gu Yaojia was made a little nervous by the atmosphere, she nodded and reached out to grab Chen Yuncheng’s hand and asked, “What is going on?”

Chen Yuncheng was about to answer her when he suddenly noticed that the ward door was pushed open. He fell silent, looked up at the door, and saw Ning Junyan in a white coat coming in from outside.

At that moment, Chen Yuncheng was a little dazed and thought out of nowhere: My Ms.Perfect is here.

In the next moment, Ning Junyan had already walked over, raised his hand and opened the curtain around the hospital bed.

Gu Yaojia was still holding Chen Yuncheng’s hand.

Chen Yuncheng immediately retracted his hand.

Gu Yaojia also saw Ning Junyan at this time. She quickly stood up and said, “Doctor Ning, you’re here?”

Ning Junyan nodded and asked, “Is the child okay?”

Gu Yaojia said, “She hasn’t been checked in at night yet, and she’s in pretty good shape during the day today.”

“That’s good,” Ning Junyan said, walked to the bed and looked at the sleeping child, and then said to Gu Yaojia, “If there’s anything you need help with, you can tell me.”

Gu Yaojia nodded, “Thank you very much.”

Then Ning Junyan turned to look at Chen Yuncheng, “What about you?”

Chen Yuncheng was taken aback by his question and wasn’t quite sure how to answer, “I …… what?”

Ning Junyan’s tone was very gentle, “Are you done with your business?”

Chen Yuncheng said, “Oh, it’s already done.”

Ning Junyan nodded and said to him, “There was an emergency surgery this afternoon, and it just finished shortly after.”

Chen Yuncheng thought about Ning Junyan’s words and asked him, “So you haven’t eaten yet?”

Ning Junyan said, “Not yet.”

Chen Yuncheng quickly said, “Let me eat dinner with you.”

Ning Junyan looked at him for a while before saying, “Okay.” Then Ning Junyan said to Gu Yaojia, “Then we’ll leave first.”

Gu Yaojia nodded, “Okay, Doctor Ning, Cheng ge, take care.”

Chen Yuncheng left the ward with Ning Junyan. Ning Junyan walked quickly, and Chen Yuncheng unconsciously tried to catch up with Ning Junyan behind him.

The pace was too fast, and Chen Yuncheng’s sprained foot was hurting slightly. If one didn’t look carefully, one wouldn’t have noticed that he was walking in an awkward position.

But Ning Junyan found out and asked him, “Isn’t your foot almost healed?”

Chen Yuncheng said, “Yes, do you want to slow down a little?”

Ning Junyan didn’t answer but obviously slowed down after that.

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Chapter 41

January 1, 2023 / hoenimochi / 2 Comments

Chen Yuncheng wanted to talk and persuade Ning Junyan but ended up getting persuaded instead.

It wasn’t until he was lying on the bed in the guest room with the lights off that Chen Yuncheng still couldn’t sleep for a long time. He put his hands behind his head and wondered if Ning Junyan had gotten to a dead end. Perhaps it was because the experience of being together when they were young was too precious to them, or perhaps their separation was too sudden and unacceptable, so Ning Junyan still couldn’t let it go after so many years.

Chen Yuncheng couldn’t quite figure it out. The relationship between people were too complicated, sometimes he couldn’t even figure out what he was thinking himself, and it was really too difficult to figure out what kind of thoughts Ning Junyan has.

Because he had slept so late at night, Chen Yuncheng woke up a little later the next morning than yesterday.

When he came out of his room after changing his clothes, he heard noises coming from the kitchen and walked over to see Ning Junyan frying an egg.

Ning Junyan wore an apron over the sweater, held a spatula in his hand, and stared solemnly at the fried egg in the pan as he prepared to turn it over.

When he heard Chen Yuncheng’s footsteps, Ning Junyan turned his head and said to him, “Just give me a second.”

Chen Yuncheng said softly, “Huh?”

Ning Junyan waited until the eggs were almost fried, turned off the fire and put down the spatula, and went to the bathroom with Chen Yuncheng. He helped him wring out the hot towel and handed it to him, before going back to the kitchen to continue preparing breakfast.

The breakfast on the table was quite simple. Ning Junyan fried eggs, heated milk, toasted a few slices of bread bought from the supermarket last night and added a small saucer of jam.

Chen Yuncheng and Ning Junyan sat down face to face.

Ning Junyan said, “Are you used to eating these?”

Chen Yuncheng nodded.

Ning Junyan said, “If you are not used to eating these, I can buy you steamed buns or cook porridge or noodles for you.”

Chen Yuncheng quickly said, “I’m not used to it, but I can eat anything.”

Ning Junyan’s tone was very gentle, “Then you can switch to something else.”

Chen Yuncheng grabbed a piece of bread with his hand, brought it to his mouth and gnawed, not knowing what to say.

After breakfast, Chen Yuncheng watched Ning Junyan tidy up the table and stood up to help him tidy up. He insisted on taking the bowl to the kitchen, and washing them with gloves on.

When he came out, Ning Junyan picked up a key and an access control card and put them on the dining table, saying, “This is the key to the house.”

“Huh?” Chen Yuncheng didn’t reach for it.

Ning Junyan was about to go out, he picked up his coat and put it on, and said to Chen Yuncheng, “I’m on duty tonight.”

Chen Yuncheng suddenly realised that Ning Junyan was a doctor, and he would often work night shifts, which meant that he would live alone at Ning Junyan’s house tonight.

“Won’t it be inconvenient?” Chen Yuncheng asked subconsciously.

Ning Junyan said, “What’s the inconvenience?”

He originally supposed to just stay for a short time, yet the owner was not at home¹, Chen Yuncheng thought so in his heart, but he didn’t say it out loud.

Ning Junyan picked up the key on the dining table, grabbed Chen Yuncheng’s wrist, put it in his hand, and said, “You can remove the gauze at night and call me if you still find it inconvenient.”

Chen Yuncheng looked down at his hands, “It should be fine.” After he said that, he couldn’t help but say, “You can’t come back even if I call you, right?”

Ning Junyan told him, “You can come to the hospital. It’s not far from here.”

Chen Yuncheng raised his head and smiled at him, “It will be fine.”

In the morning, Chen Yuncheng went back to the store first. He had an appointment with the supplier to count the returned goods.

The supplier drove over in a van, and today even the boss came in person. The boss, a middle-aged man, sat in Chen Yuncheng’s shop smoking a cigarette and chatting with Chen Yuncheng while watching the inventory.

The boss said that if it weren’t for the fact that Chen Yuncheng was a nice person and they had been doing business with each other for the past two years without problems, he wouldn’t let anyone to pick up goods.

Chen Yuncheng stood next to a small worker, watching him count and record, and said with a smile, “Thank you, Sun ge.”

Boss Sun waved his hand and asked Chen Yuncheng, “What are your plans for the future?”

Chen Yuncheng shook his head, “I haven’t figured it out yet, do you have a suitable job to introduce to me?”

Boss Sun seemed to remember something suddenly. He put an arm on the counter and said, “I have a cousin whose family looks after the agriculture tourism back home. He e only has one daughter and wants to find a son-in-law to help with the agritourism business.”

Chen Yuncheng looked at him, “Do you think I’m suitable?”

Boss Sun said, “I think you are suitable. Don’t think there’s anything wrong with being a son-in-law, my cousin’s niece isn’t too old either. If you get married, and have two children, one will take your surname and one will take hers. My cousin’s agritourism business is also quite good, there’s only one daughter anyway, it’s all yours in the future.”

Chen Yuncheng smiled and shook his head.

Boss Sun asked him, “Why not? Do you have a girlfriend?”

Chen Yuncheng still shook his head.

Boss Sun said, “That’s right, you always have to find a girlfriend to marry, why don’t you go and meet that niece of mine and maybe you’ll be satisfied?”

Chen Yuncheng heard the words and said, “I’m not ready to get married yet.”

“What’s there to prepare for?” Boss Sun smoked a cigarette to the end, “The agritourism over there is waiting for you to move in with your bags. What do you need to prepare? Mental preparation, huh? A man who is almost thirty should be realistic and not be impractical.”

Chen Yuncheng just smiled at him.

After checking the goods, Boss Sun said to Chen Yuncheng when he left with the car, “I know you are good-looking, and it’s normal to have more ideas, but at this age, you can really think about it. How many Ms.Perfect² look for poor boys?”

Chen Yuncheng put one hand on the edge of the car window, and smiled at Boss Sun, “Take care, Sun ge.”

Boss Sun said, “Call me when you’ve figured it out.”

Chen Yuncheng nodded, “No problem.”

He took two steps back and watched the car leave, feeling a little dazed. When Boss Sun mentioned Ms.Perfect just now, he immediately thought of Ning Junyan and then felt embarrassed by his own thoughts. He raised his hand to ruffle his hair which had not been properly groomed.

In the afternoon, Chen Yuncheng also packed all of his personal belongings in the inner room and put them in a suitcase, planning to take them to Ning Junyan’s side for the time being, and then find a suitable place to live later.

He came out of the store, put the suitcase on the side, and when he turned around and closed the shutter door, he felt as if someone was looking at him from across the street. He looked back, but saw that no one was looking at him, so he locked the door and walked towards the underground station.

In the evening, Chen Yuncheng ate alone and kept it simple. He went straight to the hospital for a fast food meal nearby, and then planned to visit Zhou Yan’s child.

He bought some snacks and milk and brought them to Gu Yaojia.

Gu Yaojia’s emotions had calmed down and sat on the edge of the hospital bed with Chen Yuncheng and said, “The doctor said that we still need to observe, and there was no way to discharge her from the hospital for the time being.”

Ever since Zhou Yan disappeared, Gu Yaojia had been unable to leave the hospital by herself. She could only use a basin to store hot water to bathe and wash her hair in the ward bathroom. She only changes her clothes after a long time, and her clothes were only changed once in a while, following the example of the families of other long-term inpatients, who hung out their underwear directly in the hospital stairwell.

For such a young girl, this kind of life was too hard for her.

Gu Yaojia looked at Chen Yuncheng and suddenly said, “Cheng ge, thank you for coming to see me, today is my twentieth birthday.”

Chen Yuncheng was stunned for a moment, “Today? Why didn’t you say it earlier, I didn’t even buy a gift.”

Gu Yaojia smiled, “It’s nothing, it’s good that you came to see us.”

Chen Yuncheng asked her, “Would you like to go back and have a rest, and I will help you look after the child today?”

Gu Yaojia shook her head, “No need, I’m used to it.” She was silent for a while and asked, “Cheng ge, do you think I can still wait until Zhou Yan comes back?”

“What’s wrong?” Chen Yuncheng wondered why she said such words suddenly.

Gu Yaojia glanced at the door, bent down close to Chen Yuncheng’s ear, and whispered, “The police came to look for me twice today, and a man of the family member of the child in the hospital bed in the hallway outside the door came here today. I always feel that he is spying on us. Cheng ge, what kind of trouble did Zhou Yan cause? Is there something else you’re hiding from me?”

Chen Yuncheng frowned slightly. He subconsciously glanced at the door of the room, from his spot but he couldn’t see the hospital bed in the corridor outside. He said to Gu Yaojia, “It’s alright, don’t worry too much.”

When he came out of the ward, Chen Yuncheng saw the hospital bed next to the door. A little girl was lying on the bed. Her mother was sitting by the bed and chatting with her. There was a man beside the bed. They seemed like a family. But the man and the little girl hadn’t communicated with each other, and when they saw Chen Yuncheng coming out, they even looked up at him.

When Chen Yuncheng was about to reach the lift door, his mobile phone suddenly rang. He stopped, took the mobile phone out of his coat pocket, and saw that it was Ning Junyan calling.

At the same time as the phone was connected, the door of the elevator in front also opened. Because it was an elevator that was going up, Chen Yuncheng was not in a hurry but stood on the spot and whispered to Ning Junyan, “Hello?”

Ning Junyan asked him, “Have you eaten yet?”

Chen Yuncheng didn’t answer. He saw a man standing inside the elevator, wearing a mask and a hat covering most of his face, but Chen Yuncheng was too familiar with him. Just by looking at his figure and the eyes that were mostly covered by the hat, he knew that he was Zhou Yan.

Zhou Yan, who was about to come out also saw Chen Yuncheng. He panicked instantly and hurriedly pressed the elevator closing button with his hands.

Chen Yuncheng strode over, and Ning Junyan’s voice came over the phone, “Why aren’t you talking?”

“I’ll talk to you later,” Chen Yuncheng hung up the phone, and when he walked quickly to the front of the elevator, the elevator door was already closed, and the elevator continued to ascend to the upper floors.

We have a discord server for those who want to receive an update ping and various announcements~
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and her original novel about a sly cute dragon here~
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And please buy me some kofi if you like the translation~

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Chapter 40

January 1, 2023 / hoenimochi / 1 Comment

Chen Yuncheng felt a little discouraged the moment he arrived at the door of Ning Junyan’s bedroom. He hesitated for a moment, raised his hand and knocked on the door lightly, and thought that if Ning Junyan had already fallen asleep, he would not talk about it today.

In the end, he only knocked on the door twice when he heard Ning Junyan’s voice coming from inside, saying to him, “Please come in.”

Chen Yuncheng twisted the door handle, opened the door a little, and saw that there was only a small desk lamp lit on in the room, and Ning Junyan was sitting against the head of the bed with a thick book spread out on his knee.

“Am I bothering you?” Chen Yuncheng asked.

Ning Junyan looked at him and said, “Not bothering, come in.”

Chen Yuncheng walked in, stood by the bed and said to Ning Junyan, “I have something to tell you.”

Ning Junyan closed the book and put it aside, and said to him, “Sit down and talk.”

Chen Yuncheng originally hoped that Ning Junyan would go to the living room with him to sit down and talk, but when he saw that Ning Junyan had no intention of getting up from the bed, he had to sit down beside the bed and softly called his name: “Junyan.”

Ning Junyan said, “What do you want to talk to me about?”

Sitting sideways on the edge of the bed was not a convenient position, hesitated for a moment and turned around to face Ning Junyan as he sat cross-legged on the bed.

His eyes involuntarily fell on the book beside Ning Junyan and found that it was a book in English, and he could barely understand a single word of the terms on it.

Ning Junyan followed his gaze and placed one hand on the book’s cover, asking him, “Can’t sleep? Do you want me to read to you?”

Chen Yuncheng laughed, “I can’t understand even if you read it, is it just the right amount for hypnosis?”

Ning Junyan tapped his long fingers on the hard bookcase and thought for a while before saying, “Want to read comics?”

When Chen Yuncheng heard the word ‘comic’, he remembered the book ‘Bewitching Treasure’. He tried to suppress his shame and didn’t raise his hand to cover his face as he said, “No, I’m almost thirty, and I’m no longer interested in comics.”

Ning Junyan said “oh” and asked him, “Then what are you interested in?”

Chen Yuncheng rarely heard this question. He used to have so many friends that everyone would drink and chat together, but almost no one asked him what he was interested in.

When he thought about it, it seemed that there was nothing he was particularly interested in, especially after he left school and went to work. He first set himself a goal of saving money and then worked hard to make money. So far, his biggest goal was to return the money to Ning Junyan as soon as possible.

“I don’t know either,” Chen Yuncheng said. “I’m not particularly interested in anything.”

Ning Junyan nodded, “I’m not particularly interested in anything either.”

Chen Yuncheng was a little surprised to hear that, “Aren’t you interested in your work?”

Ning Junyan said, “Work is work. You choose one thing and do it to the best of your ability. You don’t necessarily need to be interested.” He paused for a while, “But that’s what I thought before I met you.”

Chen Yuncheng was stunned for a moment; his heart began to beat gradually and fiercely, he wanted to stop Ning Junyan from continuing to speak, but at this time, he couldn’t say anything when he looked at Ning Junyan.

Ning Junyan said, “After seeing you again, I realised that I wasn’t really uninterested in anything.”

Chen Yuncheng turned his eyes away as he said again, “Junyan.”

Ning Junyan said, “That’s the second time you’ve called me by my given name.”

Chen Yuncheng took a deep breath and finally said, “You said you wouldn’t let me leave unless you agreed, have you thought about what would happen to us in the end?”

Ning Junyan said, “What about?”

Chen Yuncheng lowered his head and looked at his coiled-up knees resting right on the edge of Ning Junyan’s thin quilt as he said, “I remember when I was little, and your parents came to take you away, I actually wished you wouldn’t go. At that time, I felt like you were my only family.” These were words that Chen Yuncheng had never said to anyone else.

He still remembered that after Ning Junyan was taken away, he sat alone on the bench of the police station. He wanted to cry, but he held back. When someone came to talk to him, he also tried to make himself look good for fear that others would dislike him.

At this time, Ning Junyan sat up straight; he reached out to Chen Yunchen’s hand and gently held his hand as if he was afraid of touching Chen Yuncheng’s wound. Ning Junyan only held his fingers that were sticking out from the edge of the gauze.

Chen Yuncheng didn’t break free, and at this moment, they seemed to return to the moment when they parted in their teens.

“But,” Chen Yuncheng continued after a long time, “I know you have to go back with your parents. I’m in no position to keep you, you have your own life.”

Ning Junyan’s voice was low, “You don’t think I’m in a position to keep you around now?”

Chen Yuncheng shook his head, “That’s not what I meant. I just want to say that we are not children anymore. Even if we are brothers, we can’t always live together when we grow up, we will always have our own families.”

Ning Junyan asked him, “Are you going to?”

Chen Yuncheng said, “I don’t necessarily will, but I know you will have one. You are so good, I don’t know how many equally good girls want to marry you.”

Ning Junyan nodded. He still held Chen Yuncheng’s finger and said, “Is that what you think?”

Chen Yuncheng looked at him, “I hope you have a good life.”

Ning Junyan asked Chen Yuncheng, “So are you having a good life now?”

Chen Yuncheng never cared about a good life, but he didn’t feel that he had a bad life. His life was already destined to go on like this, and there was no point in feeling sorry for himself. He told Ning Junyan and also himself, “I feel fine.”

Ning Junyan said, “I hope you have a good life too.” After he said that, he smiled without warning and raised Chen Yuncheng’s hand to gently touch his chest, “But I can’t help myself. Even if you don’t have a good life, what if I don’t want you to leave?”

Chen Yuncheng was stunned.

The smile on Ning Junyan’s face disappeared, and he looked at Chen Yuncheng intently, “Chen Yuncheng, I have tried my best to restrain myself. I have been giving you time, do you understand?”

Chen Yuncheng’s heart trembled, and he wanted to pull his fingers out of Ning Junyan’s hand.

“No,” Ning Junyan held his hand even tighter instead, “I don’t want to hurt you; you’ll be in pain. You asked me if I had thought about what would happen in the future. Why haven’t I thought about it? I’ve been thinking about it since the day I saw you again, sometimes so much that my head hurts. I’ve thought about it for a long time; our future is that you stay by my side and don’t leave even half a step without my consent.”

“Ning Junyan—” Chen Yuncheng felt his voice was a little unsteady when he heard it.

Ning Junyan lifted his other hand that was at his side and pointed to his head, “This is where I was injured as a child, you must still remember.”

Chen Yuncheng watched his movements and recalled the injury on his head when he first saw him.

Ning Junyan said, “Maybe it’s still not quite normal to this day. It was only the moment I saw you that I got so excited and even regretted letting go of the hand that was holding you. If I hadn’t let go, would we have been separated for so long?”

Chen Yuncheng’s heart was churning, and many emotions rushed up together.

Ning Junyan took his hand at this moment, put it on his lips and kissed it lightly, and said, “So stop saying you want to leave. You can’t leave.”

For a moment, Chen Yuncheng’s hair stood on end because of his words, but in the next moment, they were washed away by more and more complicated emotions. His heart was conflicted and tormented, not knowing what to do.

They sat face to face on the bed and didn’t speak for a long time.

Ning Junyan’s expression was very calm, and he even reached out to brush the hair that fell from Chen Yuncheng’s forehead and then said to him, “Don’t be afraid. I will give you time.”

Chen Yuncheng looked at him.

Ning Junyan said, “I can’t bear to hurt you.”

Chen Yuncheng was silent for a while and asked, “Does your head still hurt now?”

Ning Junyan replied, “Occasionally.”

Chen Yuncheng sighed softly, raised his hand and touched the top of Ning Junyan’s head gently, calling out to him like he had done when he was a child, “Yanyan.”

Ning Junyan lowered his gaze. His eyelashes trembled slightly as he replied, “En.”

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Chapter 39

December 24, 2022 / hoenimochi / 3 Comments

Chen Yuncheng hesitated for a moment but did not get out of the car. He stretched out his hand and pressed the back of Ning Junyan’s hand holding the steering wheel, and said, “Wait a moment,” then turned to look at Guan Anlin, “What else do you need?”

Guan Anlin looked at Ning Junyan, but said to Chen Yuncheng, “Get out of the car.”

Chen Yuncheng looked at Ning Junyan again.

Ning Junyan didn’t say anything. He just suddenly turned off the car and then reached out to pull the door, looking like he wanted to get out of the car.

Chen Yuncheng’s heart jumped heavily. As he ignored the injury in his palm, he pulled Ning Junyan hard, and said, “Don’t go.”

Ning Junyan looked back at him.

Chen Yuncheng’s tone became heavier, “You are not allowed to go!”

Ning Junyan looked coldly at Guan Anlin outside the car window.

Chen Yuncheng looked down at his hand and said, “I wonder if the wound is bleeding again.”

Ning Junyan frowned, grabbed Chen Yuncheng’s wrist to make him release his hand, turned over to look at the gauze in his palm, then let go of his hand and said, “Go on your own, then.”

Chen Yuncheng breathed a sigh of relief. He said, “I’ll be quick.” He then pulled open the car door and got out.

He didn’t go far, just stood beside the car door and asked Guan Anlin, “What else do you need?”

Guan Anlin asked, “Who is he?”

Chen Yuncheng said, “My friend.”

Guan Anlin looked at Ning Junyan’s car parked on the side of the road and said, “When did you get a friend who drives a Land Rover?”

Chen Yuncheng didn’t answer and only said, “That’s all you’re asking for?”

Guan Anlin looked back, looked at Chen Yuncheng, and asked him, “Where are you going?”

Chen Yuncheng said: “I can’t live in my kiosk for the time being, so I’m staying at a friend’s house.”

Guan Anlin looked a little irritable, “That’s not what I’m asking, what are you going to do now your kiosk is closed?”

Chen Yuncheng was silent for a while before answering him, “I haven’t thought about it, but I definitely won’t do anything illegal.”

“That’s what kind of person I am in your eyes, isn’t it?” Guan Anlin suddenly shouted at him.

Chen Yuncheng looked at him with mixed feelings and finally said, “I want to go do something else to earn money to pay off my debt. I said I still consider you a brother if you’re willing to treat me as a brother too. Stay away from Zhang Wenyong. Let’s do this together. You’re still young and time is still on our side.”

After speaking, Chen Yuncheng turned around and opened the car door to get in the car. This time Guan Anlin did not stop him but stood on the roadside in a daze.

Ning Junyan didn’t say a word and waited until Chen Yuncheng said, “Let’s go,” before he started the car again and left.

The place where Chen Yuncheng and Guan Anlin were talking just now was not far from the car, and their voice was not too low. He felt that Ning Junyan must have heard it, and couldn’t help turning his head to look at Ning Junyan’s expression.

However, Ning Junyan had always been expressionless, and Chen Yuncheng couldn’t quite guess what he was thinking.

Several minutes passed before Ning Junyan took the initiative to speak and asked Chen Yuncheng, “Have you finished packing up your things in the kiosk?”

Chen Yuncheng nodded, “Yes, I’ve sorted out the goods that are still in good condition. I called the supplier, they’re willing to recycle some of it, and the rest should be dealt with at a low price.”

“And then what do you plan to do?” Ning Junyan continued to ask.

Chen Yuncheng didn’t answer directly. He didn’t tell Ning Junyan about his ambitious aspirations of being a truck driver, and just said, “I haven’t thought about it.”

Ning Junyan said, “There’s no rush, take your time to think about it.”

Chen Yuncheng felt that the topic was running in a dangerous direction, so he shut his mouth and did not continue.

Ning Junyan did not drive directly home or take Chen Yuncheng to dinner. He parked his car in the parking lot of a large-scale member-only supermarket near the neighbourhood.

“You want to buy something?” Chen Yuncheng asked him when he got off the bus.

Ning Junyan replied, “I’m buying ingredients to cook for you after we got back.”

Chen Yuncheng closed the door quietly.

His feet were still limping, but not serious enough to affect walking. His hands were wrapped in gauze, and Ning Junyan didn’t let him push the shopping cart, so he could only follow Ning Junyan to go into the supermarket together.

Ning Junyan really had nothing at home. When he wanted to cook, not only he had to buy vegetables and rice, but also seasonings, and even some kitchen utensils had to be temporarily arranged.

As Chen Yuncheng saw that his shopping cart was full, and now Ning Junyan was picking beef again, he couldn’t help but said, “Let’s forget about cooking tonight. Let’s eat whatever we want.”

Ning Junyan asked him, “Don’t want to eat beef?”

Chen Yuncheng said, “Let’s just eat whatever you want. I just don’t want to go to that much trouble.”

Ning Junyan said, “I’ll do it, I don’t feel it’s troublesome.”

Chen Yuncheng glanced at the time. It was almost seven o’clock now, and when they went back to cook and get the food ready, there was no telling when they would be able to eat dinner.

He had to say to Ning Junyan, “It’s too late and you’ll be hungry. Why don’t I cook noodles for you tonight? I can’t cook other complicated dishes, but it’s still okay to cook noodles.”

Ning Junyan looked at him, “Are you going to cook for me?”

Chen Yuncheng smiled and nodded.

Ning Junyan said, “Okay.”

However, he still bought some meat and vegetables, intending to go back and freeze them in the refrigerator and leave the supermarket with three big bags full.

Back at home, Ning Junyan first took apart the gauze on Chen Yuncheng’s hand to see how the wound on his palm was recovering, and then gave him a new, clean gauze.

Chen Yuncheng went to the kitchen to cook noodles, and first sorted out the seasonings that Ning Junyan had bought and put them in the cupboard.

Ning Junyan cleaned the pots, tableware and spoons that were barely used, and picked and cleaned the vegetables bought today.

Chen Yuncheng looked at him from the side and found that Ning Junyan was indeed more skilled than him in these tasks in the kitchen.

When the noodles were boiled, Ning Junyan never left the kitchen, but stood by and looked at him.

Chen Yuncheng was a little nervous, his forehead sweating slightly from the hot water boiling in the pot. He turned to look at Ning Junyan, and said, “Why don’t you go out and wait?”

Ning Junyan leaned against the door, folded his arms in front of his chest, and said in a flat tone, “I want to watch you.”

Chen Yuncheng turned his head to stare at the pot, and stirred it unconsciously with chopsticks, feeling the heat smoulder into his face, so much so that his face began to get hot.

There was no disagreeable taste, so Chen Yuncheng only added green vegetables and beat two eggs in the noodles he cooked.

As he sat face to face with Ning Junyan in the living room eating the noodles, Chen Yuncheng tasted the noodles himself and found them unpalatable, so he raised his eyes to look at Ning Junyan opposite him.

Ning Junyan seemed to eat deliciously.

“Doesn’t it taste bad?” Chen Yuncheng asked.

Ning Junyan said, “It’s okay, I can eat it.”

Chen Yuncheng was a little embarrassed, “So it’s not too good?”

Ning Junyan said to him, “If that’s the case you can cook for me alone, don’t cook for others.”

Chen Yuncheng lowered his head, poked the bowl twice with his chopsticks, and continued eating noodles in silence.

Later, Ning Junyan went to wash the dishes. Chen Yuncheng kept thinking about the blatant words that Ning Junyan said this morning. He felt like a tortoise with a shrunken head, and then Ning Junyan kept teasing outside his shell with a chopstick. And whenever he couldn’t resist sticking his head out to bite the chopstick, Ning Junyan would chop him off with a slash to the head.

He was so scared that he couldn’t figure out what he was afraid of Ning Junyan. From their childhood to now, Ning Junyan was probably the best person in the world to him. Ning Junyan would choke Guan Anlin’s neck and beat the foster father with a stick, and if he was injured a little, Ning Junyan could squat down for him to rub his feet. Ning Junyan will not hurt him, what is he afraid of?

It would do no one any good to remain silent in such a vague manner.

Chen Yuncheng was already lying in bed at night trying to sleep when he suddenly figured something out. He got up from bed and decided to go and talk to Ning Junyan.

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Chapter 38

December 24, 2022 / hoenimochi / 0 Comments

When Guan Anlin came over, the lottery shop owner made an excuse to walk away. He was a serious businessman, and although he got along well with Chen Yuncheng, he was not at all willing to provoke these gangsters in society.

Chen Yuncheng stood there and waited for him.

Guan Anlin watched the sublease advertisement posted on the rolling shutter door for a while and said, “You are not going to continue it?”

Chen Yuncheng nodded.

Guan Anlin said again, “Do you think you deserve it?”

Chen Yuncheng didn’t get angry at his words but smiled and asked him, “Would you like a cigarette?”

Guan Anlin did not answer.

Chen Yuncheng opened the door halfway and got into the dimly lit kiosk, only to come out after a while. He took a box of cigarettes that had their outer box soaked in water and handed them all directly to Guan Anlin as he said, “The inside is still good, but it’s not easy to sell anymore, so take it and smoke it.”

Guan Anlin didn’t extend his hand. He just looked down and said, “You think Zhang Wenyong is me? You’re making small moves behind his back. He definitely won’t let you off easily.”

Chen Yuncheng said to Guan Anlin, “Of course Zhang Wenyong is not you. You are my brother, Zhang Wenyong never was.”

“I’m your brother?” Guan Anlin looked like he had heard something sarcastic.

Chen Yuncheng said, “Do you remember what you went in for?”

Guan Anlin roared, “Why? Weren’t you the one who betrayed me with the police?”

The two of them were standing by the roadside, and when passersby heard Guan Anlin’s roar, they all involuntarily looked over at them, and even the lottery shop owner next door looked out curiously.

Chen Yuncheng raised his hand and pressed it on Guan Anlin’s shoulder, “Don’t get too worked up.”

Guan Anlin broke away from his hand, “What right do you have to ask me now?”

Chen Yuncheng lowered his voice, “It’s not that I want to betray you. It’s that Zhang Wenyong and the others want to kill you. Do you still remember Zhang Wenyong introduced that Boss Yu to you?”

Guan Anlin did not say anything.

Chen Yuncheng noticed that someone had been looking at them curiously, so he got close to Guan Anlin and said, “Do you really think that Boss Yu really want to make a fortune with you? Have you not come to your senses by now?”

At that time, they met Boss Yu when Zhang Wenyong took a group of young people out for a night out. That day, Guan Anlin helped Zhang Wenyong hold back a lot of drinks, and Boss Yu praised him for his loyalty, chatted with him for a while and left his contact information.

Afterwards, Chen Yuncheng found out that Boss Yu often came into contact with Guan Anlin. At that time, the two of them were still living together in the garage dormitory. They used to spend most of their time together every day. Since Guan Anlin met Boss Yu, he often went out alone.

Chen Yuncheng noticed that Guan Anlin was in a very excited state. One day Guan Anlin came back very late, and Chen Yuncheng had fallen asleep when he was woken up by Guan Anlin. Guan Anlin had drunk a lot of wine, sat by his bedside and squeezed his shoulders as he told him that he was going to be rich. “When I get rich, I will never forget you, you will always be my best brother for life!” What Guan Anlin said at that time was still on Chen Yuncheng’s mind until now.

Guan Anlin, like Chen Yuncheng, had not studied seriously enough before he went out to work. They were both very young at that time and always had some unrealistic and vain ideals, living the life of the lowest class of society, but they were so proud and arrogant to have anyone look down on them and thought they would one day become a man of the world.

Chen Yuncheng knew that Guan Anlin wanted to make money. They had been pissed off by a lot of customers in the garage, and Guan Anlin wanted to drive a luxury car one day and trample those people under his feet. However, they couldn’t think of how to make money. Now that he was older, Chen Yuncheng sometimes looked back and found that they had a narrow vision and poor imagination. They were not able to endure hardships much, and they simply did not have the ability to make a lot of money when they were young.

But that Boss Yu gave Guan Anlin hope. Chen Yuncheng didn’t know what he had told Guan Anlin, but he was so full of ambition that he wanted to do something big and didn’t even want to work at the garage.

Then Chen Yuncheng intermittently heard that Boss Yu had rented a house for Guan Anlin outside and gave Guan Anlin money to eat, drink and have fun. He somewhat had a very bad feeling at that time. Until one time, he heard Zhang Wenyong accidentally reveal that Boss Yu was looking for someone to buy ephedrine¹.

Chen Yuncheng didn’t know what ephedrine was used for. He went online to look it up and suddenly realized what Boss Yu and Guan Anlin were planning together.

He looked for Guan Anlin several times and asked Guan Anlin to go back with him. Guan Anlin said it was none of his business and told him to mind his own business. He was frightened all day long and finally couldn’t help finding the police to report about that Boss Yu and the den he had rented to Guan Anlin. In order not to involve Guan Anlin, he even found an excuse to ask him out that day, but later, he realized that he was too naive. In the end, only Guan Anlin was imprisoned because of this incident. The reason why Boss Yu spent money to seek Guan Anlin was just to find someone to take all the responsibility if something went wrong one day.

Chen Yuncheng’s whole life was in a downward spiral. He stayed away from Zhang Wenyong’s group and opened a small kiosk with his own savings. When Guan Anlin was in prison, he tried to visit him twice, but Guan Anlin refused to see him and Chen Yuncheng gave up afterwards.

After Guan Anlin was released from prison, Chen Yuncheng always wanted to find a chance to sit down and chat with him, but these days he was always running around for Zhou Yan’s affairs, and he didn’t have time to take care of Guan Anlin.

Now, Chen Yuncheng could only say to Guan Anlin, “Those people are just using you. Can’t you see clearly?”

Guan Anlin said, “Who is not using who? They want to use me to make money. Wouldn’t I use them to make money? Must I not be playing them?”

“We just can’t play them because we don’t have the money,” Chen Yuncheng said.

Guan Anlin said, “No, at first, I did it because I was stupid, and you did it because you were stupid.”

Chen Yuncheng looked at him for a while and nodded, “I am stupid, but you must not do anything stupid again. It doesn’t matter if you recognize me as a brother or not. I just hope you can stay away from Zhang Wenyong.” After Chen Yuncheng said that, he pulled open the jacket pocket of Guan Anlin’s jacket and threw in the packet of cigarettes whose box had been deformed earlier.

When he let go, Chen Yuncheng added again, “I don’t have any money, but whenever you really need it, I’ll give you a thousand if I have a thousand. Must you go and do those things, even if you really get rich, don’t come to me again. I don’t want any of that dirty money.”

When he finished speaking, a car horn sounded from the roadside.

Chen Yuncheng turned his head and saw that Ning Junyan’s car was parked on the side of the road, the passenger’s window was down, and Ning Junyan was looking at him from inside.

The moment he saw Ning Junyan, Chen Yuncheng was a little flustered. He hurriedly said to Guan Anlin, “I’ll go first.” Then he walked towards Ning Junyan, took two steps, and hurried back to close the rolling door and lock it before he walked over again and got into the passenger seat.

Ning Junyan didn’t say anything and directly started the car, and just as the car was about to start, a hand pressed hard on the open passenger window.

Guan Anlin stood by the car door and said to Chen Yuncheng, “Come down first. I still have something to say to you.”

Chen Yuncheng glanced at Ning Junyan subconsciously.

Ning Junyan looked over towards Guan Anlin.

Guan Anlin recognized him and immediately showed a defiant look.

The author has something to say:
There may be some details about what happened in the past that is not very clear, but if I don’t forget I will make them clear in the future.

We have a discord server for those who want to receive an update ping and various announcements~
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Check out bean’s new novel here!
and her original novel about a sly cute dragon here~
Check out the other hoeni’s work here~
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And please buy me some kofi if you like the translation~

Also leave some ratings if you like this series here~

Chapter 37

December 17, 2022 / hoenimochi / 1 Comment

There were more people waiting outside the operating room than Chen Yuncheng imagined. He saw a vacant seat on the bench in the corridor and took Gu Yaojia over to sit down, and only when he was tired of standing did he sit against the wall on the floor.

From time to time, patients could be seen being brought out of the operating room, and the nurse would call the patient’s name to speak to the family. They kept waiting for Zhou Yuqi all morning.

Gu Yaojia didn’t look very good. She didn’t speak, nor was she in the mood to play with her mobile phone, she just stared straight at the door of the operating room.

Chen Yuncheng asked her, “Has Zhou Yan been back?”

Gu Yaojia was called back and looked at Chen Yuncheng: “No.”

Chen Yuncheng nodded.

Gu Yaojia was a little uneasy as she asked Chen Yuncheng, “Did you see his parents?”

Chen Yuncheng didn’t mention what had happened in Zhou Yan’s hometown. He felt that it was not the right time, and it would only make Gu Yaojia more worried, so he said, “No, I didn’t see them.”

Gu Yaojia was silent for a while, “I was wondering if he would go back to his hometown to borrow money from his parents, but now I really don’t know where he went.”

Chen Yuncheng said, “No matter where he has gone, if he comes back to you, you must tell me, okay?”

Gu Yaojia hurriedly said, “Of course, I will tell you. If it weren’t for you, the child wouldn’t be able to have surgery now. Zhou Yan must come to see you.”

Chen Yuncheng nodded and said nothing.

It was almost noon when Ning Junyan called Chen Yuncheng and asked him to go for lunch. They still went to the hospital’s staff canteen, and Chen Yuncheng sat on the seat, waiting for Ning Junyan to bring him the food.

“You can bring her a meal later,” Ning Junyan referred to Gu Yaojia.

Chen Yuncheng nodded.

There were obviously many more people in the cafeteria at noon than in the morning, and there were hardly any empty seats. Two middle-aged men sat next to them, exchanging pleasantries with Ning Junyan, but when they heard him introduce Chen Yuncheng as just his friend, they were less interested and started talking about other topics.

While eating, Chen Yuncheng felt a little sorry since he was Ning Jungyan’s friend, but he was not an expert and famous doctor.

Halfway through the meal, Chen Yuncheng’s cell phone rang, and he saw that it was Guan Anlin calling.

He could almost guess what Guan Anlin was going to say, and as soon as he answered the phone, he heard Guan Anlin ask, “Did Zhang Wenyong find someone to smash up your kiosk?”

Chen Yuncheng didn’t want Ning Junyan to hear what he was talking about on the phone. He wanted to get up and go out, so he glanced at Ning Junyan and found that Ning Junyan wasn’t eating either but was looking at him. Chen Yuncheng hesitated and didn’t stand up but only said, “Did you hear it from him?”

Guan Anlin said, “I heard from the others. Your kiosk is closed. Is it serious?”

Chen Yuncheng asked, “Are you over there now?”

Guan Anlin said, “Um”.

Chen Yuncheng said again, “Do you know who are those people?”

Guan Anlin said, “Which ones?”

Chen Yuncheng said in a low voice, “The ones who smashed up my kiosk.”

The two middle-aged men next to them stopped talking and glanced at him invariably.

Guan Anlin said, “I don’t know. They were someone Zhang Wenyong found, I think.”

Chen Yuncheng felt that it was really inconvenient to speak here, so he said, “Then I know. I’ll call you later, I’m fine now.”

“Chen Yuncheng!” Guan Anlin’s tone suddenly didn’t sound good.

Chen Yuncheng asked him, “What’s wrong?”

Guan Anlin hung up on him straight away.

Chen Yuncheng put the phone back in his pocket.

Ning Junyan asked, “Who is it?”

Chen Yuncheng said, “A friend.” After he said that, he stopped talking and lowered his head to eat thoughtfully.

Ning Junyan didn’t question him further and picked up the chopsticks that were resting on the edge of his plate.

By the afternoon, the child’s surgery was successfully completed.

Gu Yaojia was a little emotional, and her eyes were full of tears. She then followed the bed to send the child back to the ward.

Chen Yuncheng also followed to the ward, and he felt sad to see such a small child lying on the hospital bed with his eyes closed, looking lifeless.

But it was always good to have a successful operation. He comforted Gu Yaojia with a few words called Ning Junyan, who was still at work and left the hospital to return to his kiosk.

Despite having prepared himself, Chen Yuncheng could not stop feeling depressed the moment he opened the door of his kiosk.

The weather was cold and humid in winter, and the water stains on the ground had not even dried out by now. He clumsily used his injured hand to clean up all the debris and garbage, putting it in a garbage bag and taking it to a nearby trash can to throw it away.

Afterwards, the remaining intact goods were packed in clean cardboard boxes and placed on high shelves.

After sorting out the stuff, he called the supplier to discuss the return of the goods, and finally went to a nearby print shop, printed the words ’Kiosk Transfer Wanted’ on white paper, adding his phone number underneath.

The inner room side was a little more complicated. Apart from the undamaged goods, there were also his daily necessities. But luckily, he didn’t have much of anything.

It was just that if the kiosk were subleased, he would have to move out, and the place to move to was also a problem.

Ning Junyan was reluctant to let him go, but he couldn’t stay with Ning Junyan all the time. It would be better if he could go and rent an apartment and find a new job.

After he stood at the door and hesitated for a while, Chen Yuncheng did not rush to pack up his things. He withdrew from the kiosk, closed the rolling shutter door, and pasted the white paper that wrote ‘Kiosk Transfer Wanted’ on the door.

The owner of the lottery shop next to him came over to take a look and asked him, “Closing, eh?”

Chen Yuncheng stared at those words as if he was reluctant to leave for a while. He nodded and said, “For the time being, I’m closing.”

The owner of the lottery shop said, “Are you afraid that those people will take revenge on you?”

Chen Yuncheng turned to look at him and said, “Not really. I wasn’t going to open it anymore.” Sooner or later, the business would have to close down, but he just didn’t expect to suffer so much damage before he closed down.

The owner asked him, “Then what do you plan to do?”

Chen Yuncheng didn’t answer. He had a vague idea in his mind some years ago when he was still working in a garage, he took the driving test with Guan Anlin and several other young people, and he took the B license. At that time, he didn’t think about what exactly he was going to do, he thought it might be helpful in the future.

Now, if he wasn’t opening a kiosk, he might be able to drive a truck for someone, going from one city to another. Although it was very hard and tiring, he could see many different sceneries. And he was alone, with no relatives and no family. No one would miss him no matter how long he left a place.

Of course, it was only if he had dealt with Zhou Yan’s affairs.

Chen Yuncheng sighed softly, raised his hand and patted the owner of the lottery shop on the shoulder, and said, “I’ll see how it goes. I’m going to take one step and see what happens next.”

The owner of the lottery shop suddenly lowered his voice and asked him, “Is that the person you offended over there?”

Chen Yuncheng followed his line of sight and turned to look and saw Guan Anlin standing across the street, looking in their direction.

“He seems to have been here in the morning.” Guan Anlin looked fierce and rebellious, easily giving people the impression that he was not a good person.

Chen Yuncheng said, “It’s okay. He’s my friend.”

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Chapter 36

December 17, 2022 / hoenimochi / 2 Comments

Later, they went to the hospital cafeteria together for breakfast.

Ning Junyan took him to the hospital’s staff canteen, which was not too crowded as it was not open to the public. There were quite a few doctors still wearing their work clothes, perhaps they were up in the morning after a night shift and waiting to check in.

After all, it was a big hospital. There were too many doctors and nurses, and it was normal that they didn’t recognise each other, so an unfamiliar face such as Chen Yuncheng’s did not attract much attention.

However, Ning Junyan had a clear presence here. As Chen Yuncheng followed him all the way in, almost all the young nurses he met on the way would take the initiative to say hello to him. Even if Ning Junyan responded expressionlessly, those young girls were not angry. Instead, it would leave a smile on their faces.

Ning Junyan asked Chen Yuncheng to sit down at an empty table and asked him, “What would you like to eat?”

Chen Yuncheng looked at the breakfast being eaten by the people at the table next to him and said, “Just steamed buns and porridge.”

Ning Junyan nodded and took his meal card¹ to buy breakfast.

Chen Yuncheng looked at Ning Junyan’s back and at the same time, heard the doctor at the next table talking to the nurse opposite him about the process of rescuing the patient last night.

He took out his mobile phone, lowered his head and sent a message to Gu Yaojia, “I’ve already arrived at the hospital. I’ll come over to you after breakfast.”

Just as he was about to put his phone away, a male doctor in a white coat and glasses sat across from Chen Yuncheng.

“Hello, I’m Dong Wenyue,” the male doctor introduced himself proactively.

Chen Yuncheng nodded, “How do you do?”

Dong Wenyue asked him, “Are you a friend of Ning Junyan?”

Chen Yuncheng smiled slightly, “Yes.”

Dong Wenyue pushed his glasses, “Are you also a medical student? You didn’t to be from our hospital, right?”

Chen Yuncheng said, “I’m not a doctor.”

Dong Wenyue seemed a little surprised, “This is the first time I saw Ning Junyan bring a friend to the hospital. I thought he had no friends.” When he saw Chen Yuncheng staring at him without speaking, Dong Wenyue hastily added, “I was a classmate of Ning Junyan’s from college, and now I am his colleague.”

Chen Yuncheng nodded lightly with a smile, but he didn’t reply because he didn’t know what the other party wanted to say to him.

In fact, Dong Wenyue didn’t want to say anything either. He was just someone with a sociable character. It was rare to see that Ning Junyan would bring strangers to the hospital or even come to the cafeteria for breakfast. He couldn’t help but be curious and wanted to inquire about it.

At this time, Ning Junyan came back with the meal plate. He put the plate on the table and asked Dong Wenyue, “Is there something wrong?”

Dong Wenyue quickly stood up, gave his seat to Ning Junyan, and said, “Chief Ning, won’t you introduce me to your friend?”

Ning Junyan first put the porridge in front of Chen Yuncheng in silence, then handed him the chopsticks, and then asked Chen Yuncheng, “Would you like to get to know him?”

Chen Yuncheng, who had always been gentle in front of strangers, smiled and said, “Dr. Dong, he has already introduced himself.”

Ning Junyan nodded and looked at Dong Wenyue.

Dong Wenyue smiled and reached out to pat Ning Junyan’s shoulder, “Then you guys take your time eating breakfast. I won’t bother you.”

Ning Junyan put the steamed buns and a plate of pickles in front of Chen Yuncheng, and lastly, milk and eggs.

Dong Wenyue went back to his original table, and at the same table with him were a young female doctor in advanced studies and two young nurses.

The young nurse chirped and asked him, “How was it? Who is he?”

Dong Wenyue shook his head, “Your Chief Ning won’t say it.”

As she was drinking the milk, the female doctor of advanced studies turned to look over and asked, “That’s Ning Junyan, right?”

Dong Wenyue said, “You’ve heard of him too?”

The female doctor nodded, “Of course I’ve heard of him. He’s only thirty years old, right?”

The young nurse sitting opposite her quickly said, “Yes, handsome, isn’t he?”

The female doctor said, “Cool!” Then she said, “Handsome too!”

They had almost finished eating, but it was still early, so they were all still sitting in their seats.

Ning Junyan took an egg and gently cracked it open on the edge of the plate, slowly peeled the shell with his slender fingers, and placed it on the plate in front of Chen Yuncheng.

On Dong Wenyue’s side, the two young nurses looked at each other, and one of them said, “Chief Ning actually uses his sexy fingers to peel eggs for people.”

“If not?” Dong Wenyue couldn’t listen anymore and couldn’t help but say, “What’s wrong with a friend on good terms peeling an egg? Besides, what’s so sexy about his fingers?”

The girls at the table ignored him and just looked over here.

Dong Wenyue said, “If you like him, take the initiative to pursue him. It’s not like he has a girlfriend.”

The young nurse shook her head quickly, “No, he’s too cold.”

Dong Wenyue smiled when he heard the words, “So someone like me is better, right?”

The young nurse across from him smiled and said, “As long as you are half as handsome as Chief Ning, you would be the best.”

After she said that, the girls laughed.

Chen Yuncheng felt that the breakfast in the hospital canteen tasted quite good, at least the bun filling was well-fried. After he finished eating the buns, he said to Ning Junyan, “The people at that table over there have been looking at you.”

Ning Junyan let out an “um”. He obviously didn’t care about this matter and just stared at Chen Yuncheng and said, “Eat the eggs.”

Chen Yuncheng glanced at him and stretched out his chopsticks to pick up the peeled egg.

Ning Junyan said to Chen Yuncheng, “I’m going to do a ward round in the morning, and then there will be an operation.”

Chen Yuncheng listened to him while eating eggs.

Ning Junyan said, “It’s just a minor operation, and it should be over at noon. You’re going to see Zhou Yan’s son later?”

Chen Yuncheng nodded, “Jiajia is very scared. I’ll go keep her company.”

Ning Junyan looked at him gloomily but said nothing and only said, “I’ll pick you up for lunch at noon.”

Chen Yuncheng asked, “Is the operation going to take long?”

Ning Junyan said, “If it goes well, it will be over by this afternoon.”

Chen Yuncheng nodded. He originally planned to go back to the kiosk in the afternoon to clean up a bit, but now he didn’t know if there was enough time.

Ning Junyan probably guessed what he was thinking and said, “I’ll accompany you back at night.”

Chen Yuncheng looked up at him and reached for the box of milk on the table, inserting a straw and taking a sip before saying, “Won’t it waste too much of your time?”

Ning Junyan said, “Then make it up to me.”

Chen Yuncheng opened his mouth, not foolish enough to ask how to make it up to him. He just silently closed his mouth and took another sip of milk.

Ning Junyan continued, “You are not allowed to move out of my place until I give you permission.”

Chen Yuncheng couldn’t help but say, “It’s not like I can live there for the rest of my life.”

Ning Junyan said, “Why not?”

Chen Yuncheng said, “One day you will—” He didn’t finish his sentence. He felt that it was not good, and he was being despicable again.

Ning Junyan suddenly laughed as he looked at Chen Yun Cheng and asked, “What will happen?”

Chen Yuncheng drank the last bit of milk, and the milk carton was sucked flat until it made a sound. He used his still gauze wrapped hand to put all the empty bowls and rubbish on the table into the dinner plate and said, “Nothing, look at the time. Don’t be late for work.”

After he cleaned up the table, Chen Yuncheng picked up the plate and looked around, wondering where it should be placed.

Ning Junyan got up and took the plate from him, and suddenly called his name in a serious tone, “Chen Yuncheng.”

Chen Yuncheng looked at him.

Ning Junyan leaned closer to his ear and said, “You can hide now, but you can’t hide forever, you know what I mean.”

For a moment, Chen Yuncheng really wanted to find a turtle shell to put on his back so that he could hide inside it.

They left the cafeteria one after the other.

At Dong Wenyue’s table, the three girls kept staring at them until the two of them had left, and the two young nurses looked at each other, forgetting for a moment what they were going to say.

________________________________________

Chen Yuncheng: I’m scared…

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And please buy me some kofi if you like the translation~

Also leave some ratings if you like this series here~

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